She had loved him, once upon a time.
She may have been able to love him again, had they not gone their separate ways.
But now, she was going to kill him.
Bellatrix sat on her heels behind a pillar in a catlike stance, ready to pounce. He didn't see her coming, of course he didn't. That was how Bella played, no one ever expected her.
She heard him. Those heavy footsteps, such confidence, so sure of himself. Always had been, she'd figured he wouldn't have changed much.
She closed her eyes to focus on the steady beat of his approaching steps. Rising as he drew nearer to the pillar, she nonchalantly stepped into his path.
He took a step backward, startled for only a moment. His facial expression didn't change at all and the situation didn't seem to surprise him as much as Bellatrix would have liked.
"Bella," he said loathingly, as though confirming this to himself.
Bella let out a long, almost feline hiss, and glared at the man who stood before her, the man she had once cherished. The man who had left her behind.
"You know as well as I why I'm here, Sirius," she informed him conversationally.
Sirius whipped out his wand. Always so dramatic, she thought. "That I do, but don't expect me to resign myself to death so easily, Bella! I'm a Black too, and I don't give up readily!" he replied warily.
Bella bristled at this comment. "You are no Black," she spat contemptuously. "You long ago gave up that claim!"
She could see the very anger boiling inside of Sirius, and smiled to herself. She had always been able to evoke emotion, however unwarranted. She knew that verbal combat would not last long with him, soon his pride would drive him to fight, wand against wand, and it would be a battle of the strongest, quickest, most powerful - all three of which Bella prided herself on.
She continued to taunt him, daring him to begin the duel. "No, Sirius, you betrayed the name of your ancestors a long time ago, and you know it, you filthy, unworthy traitor!" she screeched, joy racing inside of her. "Never again will you befoul the house of your fathers with your vile, worthless essence, oh no, for you shall be lying in the grave of one who has betrayed everything that gave him greatness!"
Giggling uncontrollably, her shrieks echoed off the stone walls. There was so much adrenaline rushing through her, she could barely keep herself from throwing an Unforgivable at him right now and killing him then and there. But she forced herself to wait, knowing that Sirius would surely block the curse with no struggle. Traitorous scum of the earth that he was, Bellatrix could not deny that he was quick.
She intended to send him to the breaking point, so that she could be the one laughing at his gaffe, when she sent a curse flying back at him. She could see it in his eyes; he was ready to collapse under the pressure of her taunting. So fragile. So fragile.
"So, Sirius, what do you have to say to that?" she asked softly. Bellatrix could picture his self-control as a physical entity. Something of a bridge he was meant to keep to, brittle as it was, now bearing the burden of her confrontation. Then, as she opened her mouth to insult him again, it snapped and crumbled to the deadly waters below.
He raised his wand and held it above his head, yelling curses that Bella easily dodged. Where on earth he had learned to duel she didn't care to know. He fought as though it were a friendly game between his mates – relying more on show and composure than the actual efficiency of it.
She joyously sent another back at him that he barely managed to block. "Just admit it Sirius," she shouted as she dashed across the room, making Sirius run panting after her, yet not breaking a sweat herself, "I always was the better dueler!" She shot a curse at him that he jumped out of the way of surprisingly easily. He recovered quickly, a valuable skill, she had to admit.
"Is that all you've got, Bellatrix, is that really all you've got?" he laughed, a new determined gleam in his eyes.
Bella froze. It was always his laughter that sparked their fights. It was always that belittling, patronizing laugh that led her to strike out at him in the fiercest way. It was probably that laughter that had allowed her to let him leave in the first place. How cruelly ironic fate cared to be.
"I've got plenty Sirius, the sampling has only begun. Don't get greedy now, little one. It's a sin you know." Even looking straight into his murderous eyes, her trademark cockiness shone clear. "But then, sinful deeds were never your forte. You can't imagine how relieved I was to find that not all men are such atrocious lovers."
He rolled his eyes. "Now, now, Bella. Let's not be childish. You're certainly confusing me with someone else. Although, with your reputation I imagine it's not difficult to do. A touch of slut on the conscience, so I hear?" he countered, enunciating the term with a raised eyebrow.
Bellatrix wasn't thrown. "I prefer the word 'whore' if you don't mind, m'dear. It has a better ring to it don't you think?"
His eyes were steely as he raised his wand again. "Crucio!"
The curse surprised Bellatrix, she had not been expecting an Unforgivable, but it was weak and dissolved directly in front of her. She laughed, spiting the overconfident Sirius. The Cruciatus curse took strength and hatred to cast, neither of which Sirius had considerable amounts.
Unfortunately for Sirius, Bellatrix had both, and he had not the energy to dodge the jet of red light speeding towards him as he panted against the wall. He just screamed as only this curse could produce, and fell to the marble tiles, spewing cries of agony. Bellatrix lifted her wand after this brief amusement, and Sirius trembled on the ground, not so much bravado anymore.
Still daring to look up at Bellatrix, he managed to twitch the corner of his mouth upwards in a semblance of a smile. "Nicely done."
She nodded in acknowledgment. "That," she said softly, "is the way the Cruciatus Curse should perform."
"Bella," Sirius whispered, his voice taking a new, more defeated tone. "Bella, don't you remember when we were children, and played Quidditch on the moor, until Mother threatened to jinx us if we didn't some indoors?" Sirius smiled, as though remembering his mother's voice, and then continued. "What about on your first day of Hogwarts, when I waited with you for the Express, begging Mother to let me go, and you told me that I could come in a few years and you'd show me everything in the castle? And what about-" he faltered as though the thought pained him to voice, "What about all the times I told you that… I loved you. And you said you'd never leave my side? Do you remember Bella? Didn't they mean anything? Why did all those years just disappear? What happened to you? What happened to us?"
Bellatrix had a moment of reminiscence as he mentioned some of her most prized memories, but then her icy glare was back. "Sirius, we were children," she replied coldly, "Things change, people…fade away."
She felt the prickle in her sinuses and willed herself not to show Sirius how she felt. Then her eyes involuntarily filled with tears that she couldn't draw back anymore. They ran down her face to the corners of her mouth where she lapped them away as if to hide them. "People fade away," she continued, her voice rising shakily, as she tried to put back her strong front but only sent more tears pouring from her shimmering eyes, "and that's how it always is! People fade away, things fade away! Everything just dwindles out of your life until there's nothing left!"
Her body shook with a few wrenching sobs before she forced herself to quiet, and she turned back to Sirius. "I loved you Sirius, I really did. You probably loved me too, but it doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't matter because you too disappeared from my life. It's nice to think that I could love you again, but now… now, there's no more time…for either of us," she whispered sadly.
She hadn't shown such strong emotion in what she estimated to be over a decade, and it was taking it's toll. She knew that if she did not complete the task that she had originally been sent to do, she would leave with out carrying it out. She willed herself to wipe the tears that stained her pallid cheeks, each one burning at her cold skin, and stood tall, speaking again in that cold, distant tone.
"Would you prefer to stand and fight once more, Sirius, or shall the duel just end here and make this much easier?" she asked. Sirius's looked resigned to the entire ordeal, but as Bella raised her wand, he spoke again.
"Bella," he murmured, "Bella, my dearest, dearest cousin-" Bella stopped him short by dropping to her knees and grabbing him roughly by the throat.
"So we'll be formal then, shall we?" she asked through clenched teeth as Sirius choked under her grasp. "Fine then: I apologize for having to end this conversation on such terms, but I'm afraid I have limited time to spend here in your most gracious presence. So then, without further ado-" Her gaze remained unwavering as she turned her wand on Sirius, letting go of his throat to make way for the curse.
Sirius took a gasp of air and as Bella uttered the words of the killing curse, he managed to get out, "Bella, I love-" Just before the jet of emerald light connected with his throat, and he went limp in her arms. His eyes still had that distressed, but hauntingly affectionate gaze, and for a moment, her breath caught in her throat, knowing how Sirius would have finished his sentence and wondering if it was true. The feeling quickly diminished, replaced with the aloofness that seemed much simpler now that Sirius was no longer breathing.
"So sorry," she spat, as she dropped his body to the floor, "cousin dearest."
She turned on her heel, her footsteps echoing just as confidently as his had begun on the floors of the marble hall, then fading into the distance, as did the memory of the cousin she had once loved.